Gunshot death ruled a homicide

The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the homicide shooting of a man whose body was found Sept. 22 lying in the middle of a private gravel road in the Mountain Falls Park area.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has identified the victim as Jeffry Charles Koller, 59, of Winchester. The cause of death was ruled multiple gunshot wounds.

Capt. Donnie Lang of the Sheriff’s Office said Koller’s partially decomposed body was found by two people, one of whom had contacted the Sheriff’s Office the day before and informed authorities that Koller had been missing for several days.

Lang described the person who called the Sheriff’s Office as an acquaintance of Koller’s. Lang said the same person notified the Sheriff’s Office after finding Koller’s body while conducting a walking search for the victim on the gravel road leading up to Chipmunk Trail in the Mountain Falls area.

Lang said authorities are still trying to identify a suspect or person of interest in the slaying.

“We’re still conducting a lot of interviews and talking to a lot of people to determine persons of interests and the reasons for it,” Lang said of the shooting.

Lang said he was not releasing any information on the type of gun used in the slaying.

Lang said the partial decomposition of Koller’s body prevented authorities from identifying him until Friday, more than a week after the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had conducted an autopsy.

Lang said Koller died on the gravel road where his body was found. The time of death is unknown but several days appear to have passed before the discovery of the body, Lang said.

“I would say from the day he was found, because of how the body was decomposed, we would say at least a week or more,” Lang said.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office at 662-6162 or Crime Solvers at 665-8477.